Green Banana Paper Joins the World Fair Trade Organization

We are overjoyed to announce that Green Banana Paper is now formally part of the World Fair Trade Organization! It is a great honor to join this global network of people “Working Together for a Fairer World.” Fair Trade and social responsibility are deeply rooted in Green Banana Paper’s core values and we are very proud to represent Micronesia in the World Fair Trade Organization.

The World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) aims to improve the livelihoods of disadvantaged people in developing countries by linking and strengthening organisations that offer just alternatives to unfair trade structures and practices. WFTO members come together in solidarity and mutual cooperation to create an alternative and fairer way of doing business. WFTO is a global network that promotes fair trade and provides forum for the exchange of information to help members increase benefits to producers.

By joining the World Fair Trade Organization, Green Banana Paper is formally endorsing the WFTO Code of Practice and the 10 Principles of Fair Trade as pictured below.

Why Fair Trade?All of the handcrafted one-of-a-kind Green Banana Paper products are a result of our commitment to create jobs and recycle agricultural waste as a means to responsible economic development for the people in Kosrae.

As a high school teacher, Matt Simpson, the Founder of Green Banana Paper, witnessed that many of his former students were unemployed on the island or working for minimum wage in the USA. Leaving their island home to work in the USA or join the US military is very real decision many people face due to the lack of economic opportunity in Kosrae.

Green Banana Paper is committed to helping to improve the livelihoods of our fellow neighbors, coconut harvesters, fahfah pounders, and island family. As of June 2018, Green Banana Paper employs 28 people at our eco-factory in Kosrae and provides additional income to 100+ local subsistence farmers.

Kulo ma lulap from Kosrae! Check out our selection of handcrafted banana paper wallets or get your own sustainably made custom business cards. Each wallet comes with a card signed by the sewer in Kosrae.